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Saturday, June 14, 2014

I participated in an Influencer Activation Program on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for BGCA. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation. All opinions are honest and are my own.

Family Internet Safety is definitely a concern for my husband and I. We want our kids to be tech savvy, but we don't want them coming across a lot of the junk that's out there. When we first started allowing the kids to go online, we set up some rules:

Time Limits: Everyone has 45 minutes a day, every few days. This is practical for our large family, but it also makes it less likely the kids will mindlessly browse. If they know they've got a time limit, they're careful to get in all the game-playing or chatting with friends time that they can.

Boundaries: Our kids have certain boundaries when it comes to social media sites like Facebook. They're not allowed to friend anyone without permission and they can only stay on their own wall. They may access their news feed page only to go to their games---but we don't allow them to scroll through the feed. Even though we try to be careful to only allow them to friend those whose influence we feel comfortable with, there's always a few weird things on there that we don't want them to see. As they get older, this rule will be more flexible, I'm sure.

Chats for Friends Only: The kids are only allowed to chat online with people they've already friended on Facebook. Any other chatting, on game sites or otherwise, is not at all allowed. The older kids understand that anyone can hide behind a screen name, so they shouldn't strike up a conversation with an unapproved person.

Keep It Out in the Open: When our kids are online, they sit with their backs to the room so the screen is facing out to the room. This is great for making sure the younger ones are where they are supposed to be and provides good accountability for the older kids and adults in the family.

June is Internet Safety Month and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America have put together a campaign to help parents learn more about being #CyberSafe. Teenagers today are often more aware than their parents of the influences and dangers out there because Internet technology has been a part of their entire lives.

Visit the BGCA CyberTribe of teen experts to get your questions about Internet safety answered. After you submit your questions, you can enter to win an iPad mini, as well as a $500 donation to the Boys & Girls Club of your choice.

I read through some of the answers the teen panel has been giving and it's really good information. Topics like cyberbullying, talking to online strangers vs. "real live" strangers, and popular social networks for kids, are all being discussed on the site. You can also take a CyberSmart Parent quiz to see if you've got #cybersafe skills!

3 comments:

A wonderful post with great information. You are definitely a role model for being such wonderful parents. The world needs more like you to make better choices for their children. May the father of this lovely family have a most blessed day today.

These are some good ideas! I really am a stickler when it comes to being online. The whole world is there! We try and keep certain influences out the home, but they are still there lurking inside that computer... I have to admit to chaperoning at this point. I guess I am very old fashioned because months go by without a child being online in our home. Thanks for sharing these ideas on the Art of Home-Making Mondays! I will definitely use some of them in the future!

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